Jennifer Capriati to be inducted into the Hall of Fame

[Lionheart392]

Thoughts? There are players with lesser achievements already there so I don't think her place can really be disputed, even though she is dismissed as extremely lucky by a lot of posters.

Career summary at the majors:

Australian Open: Winner (2001, 2002)
French Open: Winner (2001)
Wimbledon: Semifinalist (1991, 2001)
US Open: Semifinalist (1991, 2001, 2003, 2004)

She won 14 titles in total, consisting among others of 3 majors, a gold medal and 2 Tier 1's. She spent a total of 17 weeks at #1.

[woodrow1029]

For me, it's a no brainer that she should be in.

[Lionheart392]

Originally Posted by woodrow1029

For me, it's a no brainer that she should be in.

I agree. Despite the bad rap she gets on these boards, you don't win three majors and bag the top ranking by accident.

[robow7]

I always wonder what could have been had she not been made a millionaire and promoted as such a "sure thing" at the age of like 14, not to mention all her personal problems?

[jaggy]

Well she is famous so hall of fame seems logical.

[Lionheart392]

Originally Posted by jaggy

Well she is famous so hall of fame seems logical.

Well, so is Anna Kournikova but I'm not sure she deserves entry.

[jrepac]

Originally Posted by Lionheart392

Thoughts? There are players with lesser achievements already there so I don't think her place can really be disputed, even though she is dismissed as extremely lucky by a lot of posters.

Career summary at the majors:

Australian Open: Winner (2001, 2002)
French Open: Winner (2001)
Wimbledon: Semifinalist (1991, 2001)
US Open: Semifinalist (1991, 2001, 2003, 2004)

She won 14 titles in total, consisting among others of 3 majors, a gold medal and 2 Tier 1's. She spent a total of 17 weeks at #1.

And that Olympic Gold medal was on clay, over Graf. Not shabby. Let's face it, she should have done a lot more and was a bit lucky in her comeback. But, she deserves some acknowledgment. Still, what could have been....

[bluetrain4]

I know some TWer will object, but I see no problem with this.

[NadalAgassi]

Originally Posted by jrepac

And that Olympic Gold medal was on clay, over Graf. Not shabby. Let's face it, she should have done a lot more and was a bit lucky in her comeback. But, she deserves some acknowledgment. Still, what could have been....

Quite the contrary I think she was lucky in many ways, but most of all that she burnt out as she did and retired before coming back. The reason I say that is if she continued playing regularly, without getting into drugs and all her off court mischief which gave her a multi year retire and another several years before she began taking it seriously again, she would have never won a slam. She came on with huge promise in 1990 and 1991, but in 1992 and 1993 she had stopped improving and was just treading water. She was 1-10 vs Graf and owned by most of the top 5 so I dont think if she continued playing in 94-96 she was winning any slams. Nor in 97-99 when Hingis took over, and Davenport, Venus, Serena, all emerged. By 2000 she would have been burnt out and not had anything for a late career surge, and if still slamless (most likely) would have retired slamless as well.

With a basically 6 year sabatical from the sport she was refreshed and able to attack her 2nd career, and then capatilized on a period in 2001-early 2002 when she had no real competition other than Venus, and Venus always sucked on slow surfaces so there was your big gaping opening for slams. She took it, and thus is a 3 slam winner. It worked out perfectly for her.



All that said she deserve the HOF induction based on recent ones. She is more accomplished than many of the recent inductees. They just should have much higher standards to begin with, in which case Capriati and many others wouldnt have made it in.

[Xavier G]

I agree with NadalAgassi in that Capriati deserves to be in the HOF given the qualifying criteria used. She did surprise me coming back to win 3 Slam events though. Knocked off Hingis in two successsive AO finals, didn't she, I think?

[ramos77]

Only 14 titles?

Not sure about this one

[kiki]

Originally Posted by Lionheart392

I agree. Despite the bad rap she gets on these boards, you don't win three majors and bag the top ranking by accident.

True she deserves it.Don´t forget she beat all time great Martina Hingis.

[muddlehead]

always remember capriati for not doing what was right in this match.
always will admire serena for not walking off the court like i would have.
they have sports shows on worst ever sports calls
1972 olympic hoops us vs ussr usually number one
this match is a tie for number one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnFVzqN6Ags

[adidasman]

Next year it'll be Chris Lewis.

[Lionheart392]

Originally Posted by muddlehead

always remember capriati for not doing what was right in this match.
always will admire serena for not walking off the court like i would have.
they have sports shows on worst ever sports calls
1972 olympic hoops us vs ussr usually number one
this match is a tie for number one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnFVzqN6Ags

Sure, it might have been 'nice' for Capriati to give Serena the contested points, but at the end of the day women's tennis isn't a sorority. And anyway, Capriati may not have been 100% sure herself, or even if she was, it wasn't her job to correct bad calls. Blame the umpire, blame the linesmen, but don't blame the competitor who wants to win the match.

Also, compare Serena's reaction at the end of that match to the end of her 2003 French Open match against Henin. Serena barely gave a hand to Henin at the end but she embraced Capriati at the end of the one in question. Therefore she clearly didn't blame Capriati either.

[boredone3456]

Capriati deserves it. Did she get some luck in winning 3 majors..yes she did. But she still won them and was a top 10 player for many years and got to number 1. If she had not had the horrible time she did in the 90s and allowed herself to get involved in drugs she would have won more then 14 titles, maybe even another major or 2. She was insanely talented as a teenager crashed, overcame a ton of stuff and came back and did some amazing things. She deserves to be in the hall. Most players would LOVE a career like Jennifers.

[bluetrain4]

I find it amazing that she went 9 years between major SF appearances (1991-2000).

Biggest argument against her is the lack of overall titles. 14 is pretty low. Davenport had 50+

But, 3 Slams (and lots of other good Slam performances), 3 Fed Cup titles, the No. 1 ranking, an Olympic gold over Graf. There's really no argument IMO.

[robow7]

Originally Posted by muddlehead

always remember capriati for not doing what was right in this match.
always will admire serena for not walking off the court like i would have.
they have sports shows on worst ever sports calls
1972 olympic hoops us vs ussr usually number one
this match is a tie for number one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnFVzqN6Ags

It wasn't Jenny's fault, the one call at the end where the ball was half on and half off the line was way too close to give away. Now the one down the line that was well in, yea, she had to know that was in. But I have heard repeatedly pros say, I can't give away that point because the next mistake might be in my opponent's favor and then I'm screwed.